Despite electing a Republican governor, New Hampshire is a swing state with electors that have consistently gone to the Democratic presidential candidate for two decades.
That might be about to change, however, as Gov. Chris Sununu explained in a recent Fox News Channel interview.
The governor predicted that his state is likely to support the eventual Republican nominee in next year’s general election due to President Joe Biden’s widespread unpopularity. He specifically noted Biden’s effort to move back the date of New Hampshire’s influential primary election, allowing South Carolina — the state that helped secure his 2020 nomination — to hold the nation’s first primary.
“Joe Biden has completely screwed this up for himself and for the Democrats,” Sununu said. “We’re going first no matter what. New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary is going to happen first.”
Even Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen rebuked Biden’s position on her state’s primary, asserting that it is “tremendously disappointing that the president failed to understand the unique role that New Hampshire plays in our candidate selection process.”
Accusing Biden of attempting to “give some political payback to his buddies in South Carolina” and lambasting a Democratic-backed effort in Iowa to turn that state’s caucuses into a primary, Sununu said his state remains firm in its determination to continue leading the nation’s primary process.
“I’m sorry, guys,” he added. “New Hampshire’s primary [is] going to be first. That’s why the Republican candidates are here.”
New Hampshire will not comply with the arbitrary demands and deadlines coming from @JoeBiden and the @DNC.
We will not back down.
New Hampshire will be going first whether Joe Biden likes it or not. https://t.co/qp4ISXYFvY
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) September 14, 2023
Looking ahead to the general election, the governor said that “New Hampshire will very much be in play” and placed the blame squarely on the incumbent.
“The president has insulted the Democrats of this state,” Sununu declared. “So I think a lot of folks realize we are an independent-minded state. We tend to be a little more Republican. That’s why there could be a very strong possibility this state goes Republican in November.”
Whether due to his policies or the push to strip New Hampshire of its primary election advantage, the governor declared that Biden has “completely turned his back on the state” and might pay the price by becoming the first Democrat to lose its four Electoral College votes since 2000.
